Almost seven months after Palestinian-American journalist Shireen Abu Akleh was killed during an Israeli raid in the West Bank, Al Jazeera Media Network has formally requested that the International Criminal Court (ICC) investigate and prosecute those responsible for her death.

The veteran journalist, who worked as an Al Jazeera television correspondent for 25 years, was killed while reporting the Israeli military operation on a refugee camp in Jenin, in the northern occupied West Bank, on May 11. 

According to Al Jazeera, the submission came after an examination by the television news network’s legal staff. The request includes a dossier on Al Jazeera’s six-month-long investigation, all available eyewitness evidence and video footage, and new material on Abu Akleh’s death. 

The circumstances behind Abu Akleh’s death are unclear. Palestinian officials and Abu Akleh’s family have stated that they believe she was deliberately shot by Israeli soldiers, while Israel’s military said that she was most likely shot unintentionally by an Israeli soldier but might also have been wounded by Palestinian fire.

The ICC must identify those directly involved in Abu Akleh’s killing, said Al Jazeera lawyer Rodney Dixon KC at a news conference in The Hague on Tuesday.

Since March 2021, the ICC’s Prosecutor’s Office has been probing suspected war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) or Palestinian groups in the Palestinian Territories. It verified receiving a communication from the Al Jazeera Media Network on Tuesday.